The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have encircled and besieged El Fasher in North Darfur in recent weeks, but fears of an all-out assault on the city have not yet materialised. El Fasher remains the last capital city in Darfur’s five states where the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) maintain a garrison following their 13-month-long war against the RSF. A defeat for the SAF and former Darfur rebel groups fighting alongside it would formalise the loss of the army’s control over approximately one-third of the nation’s territory. Residents of the city are living in a state of heightened fear as armed clash…